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Cool project. It reminds me of another hobbyist that beat Epson (http://www.epson.co.jp/e/newsroom/news_2003_11_18 _2.htm ) to the smallest helicopter http://pixelito.reference.be/

Explain the existance of Ecover shower gel, then.

The power to weight ratio of electric motors is much better than gasoline. The stored energy to weight ratio of batteries is still much worse than a tank of gasoline. So if you want to build a car with excellent acceleration but don't care much how far it can go on a single tank/charge then electric is definitely the way to go.

This power to weight ratio also makes electric motors attractive for helicopters - they simply can't get off the ground unless they exceed a thrust to weight ratio of 1:1. The length of the flight is very limited, though, so it's only used in toy helicopters.

Take a look at this cute 6.9 gram electric helicopter!

Rockets are similar: they have a fantastic power to weight ratio compared to jet engines but need more total propellant because they also have to carry the oxidizer. If you want maximum acceleration and don't care too much about range use a rocket, even if you are inside the atomosphere and don't really need to carry the oxidizer.

"Why build a fancy flight system to be swatted when we could just take a real fly, attach 2 tiny cameras (four if they're small enough, one for each direction) and a little zapper to zap its brain when it goes the wrong direction we want." If you can find a system of two cameras and a control unit that doesn't weigh 5x the weight of your average fly then we probably will... untill that happens here's a much more traditional nav (nano-aerial vehicle): http://pixelito.reference.be/pixelito%201.htm Also, as for electrically stimulating animal/insect brains, the subjects tend to adapt over time rendering the systems useless.

6.9 gram infared controlled rc helicopter. It's lighter and smaller. I downloaded a video of it awhile back of the guy flying it around his living room that someone posted on a message board. Cool stuff.

http://pixelito.reference.be/

The Pixelito http://pixelito.reference.be/ is a far lighter RC helicopter. It weighs in at only 6.9 grams *with* battery. Check out the page for as size comparison with a hamster.

at 6.9g With battery!

http://pixelito.reference.be/

Back in 2000, I started playing with the idea of eliminating swashplate, servos, pushrods and so on. I was actually successful in realizing this.

A patent was filed early 2001. The 'problem' is that soon after that, a company took a license on this technology, and required to keep confidentiality. This implies I can not show pictures, or give details or comments about the way this works. I even had to edit some of the pictures on this site to make sure this was respected. And off course there is a money side to it. I hope you understand.

Back in 2000, I started playing with the idea of eliminating swashplate, servos, pushrods and so on. I was actually successful in realizing this.

A patent was filed early 2001. The 'problem' is that soon after that, a company took a license on this technology, and required to keep confidentiality. This implies I can not show pictures, or give details or comments about the way this works. I even had to edit some of the pictures on this site to make sure this was respected. And off course there is a money side to it. I hope you understand.